Drills for 5 year old to swing through the ball

[SE Gamer]

My 5 year-old son has been whacking balls around for a while now. Hits it fairly well (driver around 65 yards, 7 iron around 40 yards). But has recently developed an abbreviated follow through. Couldn't figure out why he was doing it at first. But today it clicked when he said he didn't want the club to whack him in the back. 

It makes sense. As I know he's had a shot or two where he's let out little "ow!". So I get why he's apprehensive now. Trying to get him to put it out of his mind. Just a little stumped on what to say to get it to translate for a 5 year old.

I've kept instruction to a minimum. As he's got a pretty good natural swing that I want to allow to freely develop a bit more. But I feel like this could be a big hinderance if we don't resolve it early on.

Would love to know if any other parents have run into this, and what you did to help your kid work past it. 

[heavy_hitter]

At 5?  Absolutely nothing.

[OnTheBag]

5 hours ago, heavy_hitter said:

At 5?  Absolutely nothing.

What he said......at 5 just make sure he finds a love and enjoyment for the game.  He is going to change so much in the next 10 years that nothing you do with his swing now will even matter.  But time spent with him laughing and enjoying the game will speak volumes and resonate into adulthood.

[leezer99]

Watch golf on TV and have him emulate his favorite player. 

[TripleBogeysrbetter]

Ditto.  Just enjoy your time together.  It goes by to fast.

 

As mentioned his swing will change so much your head will spend.  If you get him on the range and its not fun its over.

 

Kid hits  a shot.

 

You think of the 13 things he did wrong.

 

He thinks I swung and the ball is on the green.

 

At 5 as long as you have a cool club and willing to rake the bunker.  He needs to do Sand angels.

[MahalNeneng]

On 9/4/2022 at 11:53 AM, SE Gamer said:

My 5 year-old son has been whacking balls around for a while now. Hits it fairly well (driver around 65 yards, 7 iron around 40 yards). But has recently developed an abbreviated follow through. Couldn't figure out why he was doing it at first. But today it clicked when he said he didn't want the club to whack him in the back. 

It makes sense. As I know he's had a shot or two where he's let out little "ow!". So I get why he's apprehensive now. Trying to get him to put it out of his mind. Just a little stumped on what to say to get it to translate for a 5 year old.

I've kept instruction to a minimum. As he's got a pretty good natural swing that I want to allow to freely develop a bit more. But I feel like this could be a big hinderance if we don't resolve it early on.

Would love to know if any other parents have run into this, and what you did to help your kid work past it. 

5 is tuff let them whack it and make it fun, even I couldnt find any 5 stuff, I got 6 🙂 hell at that point if you get 10-15 mins of anything before chasing a lizard or something then count your blessings....games and fun is the only drill

 

 

[MahalNeneng]

17 hours ago, OnTheBag said:

What he said......at 5 just make sure he finds a love and enjoyment for the game.  He is going to change so much in the next 10 years that nothing you do with his swing now will even matter.  But time spent with him laughing and enjoying the game will speak volumes and resonate into adulthood.

ya just the fact that he will tell your wife that hes "going golfing with daddy" and she will ask on his return how "golfing" was is all there is, then straight back to Elmo (is Elmo still a thing?)

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

A 5 year old having Dad live vicariously....I'm sure he'll love the game once forced to practice....just let the kid have fun

[kekoa]

Hinderance to what?  the PGA tour?  lol.  All jokes aside, just let him swing his swing.  Its a great thing that he can even make contact at that age. 

[SE Gamer]

8 minutes ago, kekoa said:

Hinderance to what?  the PGA tour?  lol.  All jokes aside, just let him swing his swing.  Its a great thing that he can even make contact at that age. 

 

It's twofold. A portion of it is a hinderance to him developing a swing. But the bigger (and somewhat related) thing is a hinderance to his enjoyment. As stated earlier, he's naturally had a pretty good swing. And has picked up golf very quickly. He's also a bit of a perfectionist and wants to excel at just about anything he does (legos, golf, running, monkey bars, lol). The flip-side of this is that he can get really frustrated.

 

Since he's had pretty good success with golf, he knows when he's doing well. And he knows when his not. So he's been getting frustrated with his hits when he decelerates. I can see why it's happening. Just not sure how to explain it in a way that'll click for him.

 

Beyond that, I'm absolutely letting him swing his swing. The only instruction and expectation I've given him relating to golf has been specific to courtesies when we're on the course.  

With all that being said, I did some more thinking about how to help him through this. And address the core issue of the occasional discomfort. Which I don't want for him to simply "deal with it". The other night got the idea to take some pipe insulation and wrap it around the shaft to add some cushion. Had to find a special version in the right dimension. But it just showed up today, and actually fits like a glove. Thinking that this may just work. And if he's not having the occasional "owie", he'll probably just work himself out of the deceleration on his own.

[SE Gamer]

2 hours ago, Is Golf Fun or Work said:

A 5 year old having Dad live vicariously....I'm sure he'll love the game once forced to practice....just let the kid have fun

 

The above couldn't be further off-base. So perhaps it's just projection?

No one is forcing him to practice. He plays when he wants to play. Have seen firsthand growing up what it was like to have other parents forcing their kids into hobby/sport X, Y, or Z. Felt bad for those kids, and it almost always never went the way the parents wanted. 

[SE Gamer]

2 hours ago, rpawly said:

5 is tuff let them whack it and make it fun, even I couldnt find any 5 stuff, I got 6 🙂 hell at that point if you get 10-15 mins of anything before chasing a lizard or something then count your blessings....games and fun is the only drill

 

 

 

Agreed that fun is the primary goal for him. We do plenty of games, and I let him largely dictate when and how he wants to play. Although I'm glad the "I bet I can hit it in the woods" phase is over. Probably have about 100 balls I'll need to fish out of there this fall. 

[kekoa]

There is a 12yr old kid we know that has snapped a few driver shafts across his back in the follow thru.  Painful to watch and he even got hurt once due to the recoil.  The idea of the rubber piping seems like a good fix for now.  Hope it all works out.

[SE Gamer]

9 minutes ago, kekoa said:

There is a 12yr old kid we know that has snapped a few driver shafts across his back in the follow thru.  Painful to watch and he even got hurt once due to the recoil.  The idea of the rubber piping seems like a good fix for now.  Hope it all works out.

 

Yikes. I can imagine snapping a shaft would really hurt. I'm optimistic that the pipe insulation will eliminate the discomfort from the occasional back whack. It's actually a soft foam. I've smacked myself a couple times with it on and off. And it definitely makes a significant difference. 

[wildcatden]

This should fix it:

 

[heavy_hitter]

Just a piece of advice and please take this the correct way.

 

Using the term "perfectionist" at that age is a crutch for "he can't accept failure".  There is a difference in the two.  A perfectionist is someone who works his tail off to get good at something that they are not.  A perfectionist does not get upset at failure.

[SE Gamer]

25 minutes ago, heavy_hitter said:

Just a piece of advice and please take this the correct way.

 

Using the term "perfectionist" at that age is a crutch for "he can't accept failure".  There is a difference in the two.  A perfectionist is someone who works his tail off to get good at something that they are not.  A perfectionist does not get upset at failure.

 

No need to preface it, as I get what you're saying. He falls in the middle somewhere between the two. In general, we've been working with him on how to properly deal with failure. He has no problem accepting it, just struggles on occasion in how to react to his frustration. 

 

On the other hand, I'm thoroughly impressed with his persistence and commitment. A couple weeks ago he was gifted a 1400 pc lego set. And I was thinking I'd have to help out a bit. But darned if he didn't methodically make his way through all 300 pages of the instructions to put it together.

 

Even with golf, in spite of what others may have conjured up in their heads, his growth has all been self-directed. I'll often find him in the sim room hitting balls. But I've never told him, "you're practicing/golfing today". 

 

The only point I'm not sold on is that a perfectionist doesn't get upset or frustrated with failure. Those sorts of feelings are a part of human nature. But a perfectionist will harness that failure/frustration to learn from and improve upon.  

Regardless, I appreciate the advice. Thanks!

[leezer99]

This is going about as expected. 

[SE Gamer]

Well, the foam pipe insulation is a winner. He's swinging like a madman now. Almost like he's trying to see how hard he can hit himself in the the back. 

 

If anyone else runs into this with your kids, this is a great solution. Just won't find the right kind in a big box store. I ordered through amazon. You want 1/4" I.D. and may have to run a little tape around it in a spot or two so that it stays in place better.

[hammersia]

Check that he is pronating to 45 degrees at P2 using anterior radial tilt rather than ulnar deviation.